It is well known in the medical community that massage therapy, hot therapy, and cold therapy are all effective ways for relieving pain and treating an area of the body affected by injured and sore muscles, ligaments, and joints. Massage therapy devices typically exert pressure to provide relief to sore muscles, ligaments, and joints, and is an effective method to relieve tension throughout the entire body. Hot therapy and cold therapy are typically alternately applied directly to the affected area to provide localized relief and to promote healing of ailing muscles, ligaments, and joints.
Designers of massaging devices have attempted various designs to combine two of the three above described therapeutic techniques in a single device. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,383 to Juarez discloses a rollable foot massaging device that includes a long tubular body with a plurality of protuberances on its outer surface that create pressure points when rolled over the soles of the feet. The device is hollow so that a single liquid, either hot or cold, may be placed inside. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,241 to Fischer. That massaging device includes a long tubular body made of ceramic material with a plurality of protuberances and dimples on its outer surface. The device is also hollow to allow hot liquid to be placed inside to radiate heat through the ceramic walls to the feet.
Another type of device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,197 to Bowen. This device is a hot or cold therapy pack that includes a pair of compartments on either side of the therapy pack. The therapy pack is placed on the area to be treated after it has been activated by rupturing an inner portion located on either side of the pack. Alternating hot and cold therapy is available when both sides of the pack are activated.
All of the foregoing prior art suffers from several undesirable drawbacks. First, the massaging devices only allow the application of either hot therapy or cold therapy during the massage therapy, but not both. Second, the massaging devices are of fixed length and do not conform to the size of the area to be massaged. Finally, devices that provide for alternating hot and cold therapy do not provide for simultaneous massage therapy. Thus, none of the devices allow the simultaneous delivery of all three therapeutic remedies. There is, therefore, a need for a massaging device which simultaneously provides for the capability of treating the area being massaged with alternating hot therapy and cold therapy.